Positive drive, endless rubber tracks such as those used on agricultural or industrial vehicles typically have an internal, center row of individual drive lugs which engage drive bars on a drive wheel. The drive lugs typically function to transmit power from the drive wheel to the track and also serve the purpose of retaining the track on the vehicle. Such lugs are frequently referred to as guide-drive lugs or are simply referred to as drive lugs. During use recurring contract between the drive bars on the drive wheels and drive lugs causes surface wear at the points of contact. Such wear occurs as the vehicle is driven and maneuvered during normal operations. In general, the level of wear increases with increasing power levels and speed. In some cases vehicle tracks need to be replaced due to an excessive level of wear on the drive lugs. Accordingly, vehicle tracks having guide-drive lugs which are more resistant to wear would be a valuable advance in the state of the art.
United States Patent Publication No. 2008/0136255 A1 discloses an endless track belt for use in an industrial or agricultural vehicle. The endless rubber track belts described therein include a rubber carcass having an inner surface having one or more drive lugs and an outer surface having tread lugs. The drive lugs include reinforcement layers that partially or substantially cover all or a portion of the end faces of the drive lugs. The reinforcement layers may include continuous strips, or discrete strips. The reinforcement layer may also be fabric cutouts to match the shape of the drive end faces of the drive lugs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,196 B2 describes an endless track for an industrial or agricultural vehicle consisting of a body formed of a rubber material having an outer surface displaying a series of ground engaging profiles longitudinally spaced along the surface and an inner surface displaying a series of longitudinally spaced drive lugs adapted to be engaged by drive sprockets on the vehicle driving assembly. The body of the endless track is fabric reinforced. One layer of fabric longitudinally extends at a distance from the inner surface of the track and has a width slightly less than the width of the drive lugs so that the fabric may extend inside the drive lugs to increase their rigidity.